


Phantom Menace

by blackkat



Series: Crossover and Fusion Drabbles [13]
Category: Bleach, Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Developing Friendships, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Humor, Nostalgia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-23 23:04:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16168616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/pseuds/blackkat
Summary: Rangiku meets a particularly stubborn soul.





	Phantom Menace

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize for the title but how in the world was I supposed to resist that pun.

“Oh, come on!” Rangiku protests, crossing her arms under her breasts. “You're putting me behind schedule, you know!”

The shimmering blue form of the ghost she’s _supposed_ to be sending on just gives her an infuriatingly mild smile. “Forgive me, my dear,” he says, “but there are still a handful of things I need to do.”

Rangiku blows a strand of hair out of her face with a huff. “Your Chain of Fate is getting shorter,” she points out. “All the magic in the universe can't stop _that_. As long as you're wandering around here, you're at risk of becoming a Hollow.”

The ghost glances down, though apparently he can't see what Rangiku does. “I’ve been trying to limit my appearances,” he says, and it’s almost an apology. “However, I left things…poorly, I'm afraid.”

Rangiku looks from him, with his greying beard and fall of equally silvered hair, to the figures on the bed in front of them. A teenager with hair almost the color of hers, and a boy a good ten years younger, with sandy hair, his face twisted like he’s having a nightmare. The older boy’s blanket is covering the boy, and there are lines of exhaustion in his face, a tight, unhappy slant to his mouth.

Despite herself, Rangiku softens a little. Gin used to give her his blankets, on the nights when the Rukongai got particularly cold. He never told her he did it, but—she woke up early, sometimes. She remembers.

“Regrets are the fastest way to become a monster,” she says gently. “You're tied to these two and can't let go. That isn't how it should be.”

The man’s smile grows a little strained, and he folds his hands into his sleeves. “The Force wouldn’t allow me to manifest if I were going to hurt them,” he says, but he doesn’t sound entirely convinced.

Rangiku gives him her best pout, the one that shows off her lips and makes most men weak at the knees from fifty paces. “Oh, come on, even you don’t believe that!” she tells him. “You're here because you're stubborn and won't let me do my job, not for any other reason.”

Instead of being swayed by her ample womanly charms, the man just chuckles. “Ah, but perhaps meeting you _is_ the reason the Force put me here,” he says.

Rangiku rolls her eyes. “A cranky captain who got tired of me slacking on the paperwork is the reason I'm here,” she says, “doing _unseated officer_ work on a planet without any other souls on it except a silver fox who doesn’t even appreciate a hot woman trying to lead him to his afterlife.”

Blue eyes widen, and then the man laughs. “You are lovely indeed,” he tells Rangiku. “Forgive me my preoccupation, my dear. Obi-Wan and Anakin have simply had a hard time of it, and I find myself worried about their fates. There is…much Darkness that I could not see before.”

“Death opens up a lot of perspectives,” Rangiku agrees, but it’s a little absent. She glances down at the two boys again, the faint tracks of tears on the younger one’s cheeks, the worn, strained sharpness of the elder’s face. Grief, she thinks, and glances at the man beside her. “You were their…?”

“Mentor,” the man says, and offers her a small bow. “Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn at your service.”

“Lieutenant Matsumoto Rangiku of the Tenth Division,” Rangiku returns with a flirty smile, but she’s distracted by the boys a moment later. Jinn is right—there's a heavy sense of darkness in the air, but it’s far less here than on some of the planets she’s visited. Still, if they wander onto one of those, or if they don’t _know_ that that malevolent power is all around them…

Well. Hitsugaya did tell her to do her job, and to do it thoroughly.

With a huffy sigh, she drops her arms, plants her hands on her hips. “ _Geez_ ,” she complains. “The captain’s going to be so grumpy at me. I bet he’ll hide my sake for _decades_ , so you’d better appreciate this.”

Jinn blinks, pulls back to look at her in surprise. “Appreciate?” he echoes.

Rangiku checks that Haineko is belted on securely, then pulls out the string of pills the Twelfth hands out instead of gigai now. More portable, certainly, and far easier to slip in and out of. Popping one in her mouth, she shudders at the taste, but swallows it down, and the world is suddenly _different_ in a way she’s never quite been able to vocalize. She pokes the closest tree just to check that it worked, and her hand doesn’t go through. With a smile, she turns back to Jinn with a bright smile and twiddles her fingers at him.

“Appreciate my dedication!” she clarifies, though she keeps her voice pitched low enough not to wake the boys now that they can hear her. “If you're here to keep them safe, I’ll do it for you! And once the danger’s gone I’ll be right here to help you move on like you should.”

Slowly, warmly, Jinn’s smile spreads. “You are a saint, my dear,” he tells her.

Rangiku winks at him, then goes to one knee next to the teenager, putting a hand on his shoulder. This will take a _little_ improvisation, but that’s what she’s best at. “What’s his name?” she asks.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi,” Jinn offers without pause, just as blue-green eyes flutter open.

There's a moment of startled silence as Obi-Wan stares at her, and Rangiku beams back, and then all at once Obi-Wan yelps and scrambles back, hits the younger boy and comes to a sharp stop.

“Oh, hush,” Rangiku says with a pout at him, even as she rises to her feet. “Is that how you react to every family member?”

“Master Obi-Wan?” a groggy voice asks, and a ruffled blond head appears over Obi-Wan’s shoulder. Blue eyes widen, and Rangiku laughs.

“Family,” she agrees easily, and smiles at the boys. “I'm your cousin Rangiku! It’s nice to finally meet you, Obi-Wan. You're a hard guy to pin down, you know? I had to work so hard to find you!”

Obi-Wan gapes, completely lost for words. Over Rangiku's shoulder, Jinn is laughing, warm and amused, and when Rangiku glances back at him for half a moment he shakes his head.

“You’re a menace, my dear,” he tells her. “But I think you're exactly the kind of menace Obi-Wan and Anakin need.”


End file.
